Movie Review – Doctor Strange

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Doctor Strange is the latest film produced by Marvel Studios, directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The film follows Dr. Stephen Strange, a supremely talented surgeon who permanently injures his hands in a car accident, effectively ending his career. After trying everything that modern medicine has to offer, exhausting his fortune in the process, he turns to more mystical sources after meeting a man with a permanent spine injury who miraculously regained the ability to walk. He directs Strange to seek a place called Kamar-Taj in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he begins training in the mystical arts under the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Through her tutelage he begins learning how to magically travel great distances, cast spells, and manipulate reality.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #14

Secret Avengers by Rick Remender Volume One

By Rick Remender (Writer), Patch Zircher (Artist Issue #21.1), Gabriel Hardman (Artist), Bettie Breitweiser (Colour Artist), & Chris Eliopoulos (Letterer); 2013

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Summary

Relinquishing the reins of his covert Avengers squad, Captain America has handpicked Hawkeye to take over — as long as the world’s greatest marksman proves he can cut it in the spy game. And with a new leader comes a fresh lineup as Giant-Man, Captain Britain, and the Original Human Torch join Black Widow, Beast, Valkyrie, and Ant-Man in the ranks of Earth’s stealthiest heroes. But Hawkeye — determined, as ever, to do things his own way — draws the line at Cap’s final suggested recruit: the deadly and unpredictable Venom! Will the quickly assembled team of powerful personalities unite behind the brash bowman? Can the archer lead them safely through their first deadly mission — a baptism of fire against the human/synthezoid hybrids known as the Descendants and their mysterious “Father”? Or will an Avenger make the ultimate sacrifice on Hawkeye’s watch?Read More »

What We Get To

Recently I read Found, a book of poetry by Souvankham Thammavongsa. Not to disparage this book in the slightest, but the content of this book specifically isn’t important. What matters right now is what it is to me, what is has been. I read her first collection of poems, Small Arguments, in 2008 for Critical Thinking about Poetry, a first year course I took during my time at the University of Toronto at Scarborough (UTSC). I can’t precisely remember when, but I bought Found in the UTSC bookstore shortly afterwards because it was there. I recognized the similar binding, that I’d read the poet already, and picked it up. I wasn’t even particularly partial to Thammavongsa’s work. I was just starting to collect books and I jumped on it.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #13

Hellboy: Wake the Devil

By Mike Mignola (Story & Art), James Sinclair (Colours), Pat Brosseau (Letters), & Dave Stewart (Cover Colours); 2004

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Summary from Dark Horse

A murder in a New York wax museum and a missing corpse lead Hellboy and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense into ancient Romanian castles on the trail of a sleeping legend: the nobleman vampire, Vladimir Guirescu. Nazi scientists, revived in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, prepare for the return of Rasputin and the end of the world, and Hellboy confronts his purpose on Earth.Read More »

TV Series Review – Luke Cage Season One

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Luke Cage is the latest superhero series created for Netflix set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The series was created by Cheo Hodari Coker and stars the titular Marvel Comics character Luke Cage, played by Mike Colter. Having gained unbreakable skin and super strength from a sabotaged experiment in prison, Luke Cage is a fugitive from the law trying to live a low-profile life in Harlem to keep his past from catching up with him. When violence in the community hits close to home Luke risks being exposed, using his abilities to fight the criminal element that exploits and threatens the community.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #12

Batman: The Long Halloween

By Jeph Loeb (Writer) & Tim Sale (Artist); 2011

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Summary from Goodreads

Taking place during Batman’s early days of crime fighting, this new edition of the classic mystery tells the story of a mysterious killer who murders his prey only on holidays. Working with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Lieutenant James Gordon, Batman races against the calendar as he tries to discover who Holiday is before he claims his next victim each month. A mystery that has the reader continually guessing the identity of the killer, this story also ties into the events that transform Harvey Dent into Batman’s deadly enemy, Two-Face. This edition includes original 13-issue series as well as four additional story pages cut from the original series, which are presented fully colored and restored to their place in the story.Read More »

Book Review – The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Summary

In this ingenious and captivating reimagining of Rudyard Kipling’s classic adventure The Jungle Book, Neil Gaiman tells the unforgettable story of Nobody Owens, a living, breathing boy whose home is a graveyard, raised by a guardian who belongs neither to the mortal world nor the realm of the dead. Among the mausoleums and headstones of his home, Bod experiences things most mortals can barely imagine. But real, flesh-and-blood danger waits just outside the cemetery walls: the man who murdered the infant Bod’s family will not rest until he finds Nobody Owens and finishes the job he began many years ago.

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The Graveyard Book is one of a number of works by Neil Gaiman that I frequently heard about, even before I was a fan of his. This was one of the reasons why I chose to read it next amongst the works of his I have. I’d thought I had a general idea of what to expect from it going in, but that changed a little when I discovered it’s a re-imagining of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Unfortunately, I’ve only really experienced the Disney adaptations of that story, as I expect is the case with most people, but that didn’t stop this knowledge from influencing my reading experience.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #11

The Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion

By Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente (Writers); Rafa Sandoval (Penciler); Roger Bonet with Greg Adams (Inkers); and Martegod Gracia with Dennis Calero & Raul Trevino (Colourists); 2009

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Summary

The Secret Invasion has begun, and Earth is overrun by Skrull shape-shifters on a holy crusade to remake the universe in their image. But the goddess Athena has a solution: if you want to destroy the Skrulls: kill their gods. To this end, Athena’s brother, Hercules, leads a uniquely divine strike force — including Inuit demigoddess Snowbird, Eternal warrior-scholar Ajak, the monstrous god-eater Demogorge, and evil Japanese trickster deity Amatsu Mikaboshi, plus Herc’s boy-genius sidekick Amadeus Cho and his faithful coyote pup. Together, they embark on a celestial voyage to the realm of the Skrull gods, finding romance, camaraderie, and treachery among their ranks along the way. Featuring Nightmare and the Eternals!Read More »

Why Didn’t I Like The Witch?

As is traditional around Halloween, I’ve been watching a lot more horror movies in celebration of the season. One I’d been looking forward to seeing for quite a while was The Witch, the 2015 film directed by Robert Eggers. After watching it, I thought it was very good indeed. It’s finely crafted with good atmosphere, interesting characters, and genuinely creepy moments set in a wonderfully gloomy historical setting. What I’ve been trying to wrap my head around, despite all this and more, is the fact that I didn’t really like watching it.Read More »

Mighty Thursday #10

Kingdom Come

By Mark Waid & Alex Ross (Writers); Alex Ross (Artist); 2008

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Goodreads Summary

Set just after the dawn of the 21st Century, in a world spinning inexorably out of control, comes this grim tale of youth versus experience, a tradition versus change, while asking the timeless question: what defines a hero? Kingdom Come is a riveting story pitting the old guard – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and their peers – against a new, uncompromising generation of heroes in the final war against each other, to determine nothing less than the future of the planet.Read More »